Corporate Governance

At Unum, we have a responsibility to operate with integrity. To that end, our governance policies and code of ethics are designed to maximize transparency and foster an environment of openness, accountability and integrity.

View all Governance Documents

Our board of directors is responsible for corporate governance. Members of the board are kept informed of the company's business by reviewing materials provided to them, discussing matters with individual members of senior management, and attending meetings of the board and its committees. Two standing committees – the governance committee and the regulatory compliance committee – oversee business practices and regulatory compliance. Other committees of the board include the audit, human capital and risk and finance committees. All members of the committees are independent, non-management directors.

View our Board Members
View our Board Committees

A culture of ethical behavior is essential for a public company. The business of providing employee benefits requires nothing less than for us to operate consistently, compassionately and fairly to meet the needs of our policyholders during difficult times in their lives.

Our code of conduct guides our employees on how to abide by the company's principles and access the resources available to address any ethical issues that arise. This network of support includes online and toll-free telephone access to report ethical issues confidentially and a website that provides ethics education and training.

We also take our customers' privacy very seriously. As a company that has access to medical records as part of its daily business operations, customer privacy is of utmost concern to our employees. Part of our commitment is to ensure that non-public personal information obtained by us about our customers is used only for lawful business purposes.

Our ethics and privacy efforts are led by our senior leadership team in conjunction with our chief ethics officer and chief privacy officer. The company monitors its ethics program through work environment surveys, employee performance reviews and other tracking mechanisms.

View our Executive Officers
View our Code of Conduct (for all employees)
View our Code of Ethics (for the CEO and senior financial executives.)

Unum is subject to U.S. regulations and guidelines from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal and state agencies. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, other related Federal laws and regulations of agencies such as the Securities Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service, listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange, and fair market practices and other compliance required by the states guide the actions of our company.

To meet these requirements, Unum provides financial data, information about our business operations, details of our executive compensation and other key facts investors have a right to know. We have a robust internal system designed to aid us with compliance with applicable laws and regulations and that we accurately represent our product and service offerings to customers and shareholders. Our financial information and accounting practices are reviewed and verified by an independent public accounting firm.

In the U.K., Unum is committed to supporting the Financial Conduct Authority's Treating Customers Fairly Initiative. Our philosophy is always to put customers first, and we make sure our products, and the customer information and service that go with them, are designed and written to meet customer needs.

Stockholders and other interested parties may communicate with the board or its members by writing to the following address:

Corporate Secretary
Unum Group
1 Fountain Square
Chattanooga, TN 37402

Concerns received relating to accounting, legal, taxation, compliance, internal controls or auditing matters are immediately brought to the attention of the internal auditor and handled in accordance with procedures established by the audit committee for such matters. Items such as mass mailings, resumes, job inquiries, surveys, business solicitations and advertisements are not accepted by the board.

Corporate governance guidelines and charters for each of the standing board committees and a code of conduct (for directors, officers and employees) and a code of ethics (for the CEO and financial executives) are available on our website. Stockholders can also request without charge printed versions of the documents by writing to the following address:

Corporate Secretary
Unum Group
1 Fountain Square
Chattanooga, TN 37402